Having a diverse and well-developed vocabulary make for both good readers and good writers. The class discusses basic grammar, such as nouns, verb, and adjectives. They then view a series of pictures and work as a class to create simple...

Do your class members complain they don’t know what to write about? Give them disposable cameras and ask them to take pictures of 12 things that make them happy. After the pictures are developed, they are pasted on a poster board and...

What does the author believe about his topic? Why did he write in the first place? Challenge your class to figure out the answers to these questions as they read through informational texts. The resource provides a breakdown of the...

Many schools have honor codes, but scholars do not always choose to follow them. As part of a series of free-response questions from the AP® English Language and Composition Exam, learners discuss the benefits or disadvantages of honor...

Scholars analyze a variety of text to identify the development of claims and persuasive techniques writers use. In each text, pupils determine the argument and the persuasive techniques and complete a task introduction worksheet. The...

A key challenge in teaching kids how to read informational text, particularly primary source documents, is finding suitable resources and then developing questions that guide readers. Never fear, help is here in the form of a series...

A New Order in Europe calls for a new lesson plan! This third plan in a series of four sequential lessons encourages high schoolers to read primary sources about the development of the New Order and follow up their knowledge with a...

Your beginning Spanish speakers will learn basic classroom vocabulary with this quick PowerPoint. It introduces the key vocabulary terms, their corresponding gender, and the article for each. The last five slides provide a brief...

Explore the pop art movement and create a sculpture in the pop art style based on a visual pun, or play on words. The scholar's work may use humor, allegory, metaphor, or be in the form of a parody. Visual examples are provided, and some...

Readers answer 8 multiple choice questions by selecting the correct revisions to the paragraph provided. The focus is on prepositions, syntax, and parts of speech. A good, quick exercise for ELL classes or review for middle schoolers.

Need to work on nouns with your class? This handout breaks down nouns and provides twelve sentences for noun identification practice. Help English language learners recognize nouns with the examples given on this handout.

Who are you? Where are you from? Teach young Spanish language learners how to identify themselves and where they're from. They draw a picture of themselves to help develop vocabulary for this activity. 

High schoolers explore freedom of speech. Individually, they complete a K-W-L chart. Students participate in a "Stand If You Can" activity where they make statements regarding the freedom of speech. High schoolers stand if they agree...

Students analyze current events and write and deliver extemporaneous speeches to the class. They define and discuss extemporaneous speeches, conduct research and deliver their speech, and participate in a peer evaluation of students'...

There are some words out there that just make you say, "Wow!" Encourage your class to find and use these words in their writing to make their work more interesting and complex. This packet goes through the writing process, beginning with...

Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of commencement speeches and how they are used to influence the world. They read a variety of speeches and identify the benefits for others. The lesson includes web resources...

Students explore the initial Supreme Court decision to regulate commercial speech, and then analyze the legal precedents and principles underlying a recent case contesting this regulation.

Students explore political topics and issues that often involve discussions of race or ethnicity. They develop campaign speeches voicing their stances on their assigned topics and explore how their racial and/ or ethnic backgrounds shape...

Second graders discover that oral and written communication can be improved, and made to sound more eloquent, when the following questions are addressed; Who? What? Where? When? Why? students use word processing to copy a poem using clip...

Fourth graders choose a category to speak about for about two to three minutes. They deliver a show and tell presentation in front of the class. They complete a rubric on classmates for their accurateness of their presentation. They...

Use this presentation to introduce a class or lecture about writing organization. The slide show is the first part in a five-part series, titled "What is an Essay?" The slideshow is short and could use more detail, but functions as a...

This instructional activity reviews types of pronouns, provides a list of possessive pronouns, as well as prompts for writing original sentences using 14 different possessive pronouns. Plus, participants put possessive pronouns in their...

What's the difference between good and well? How about hard and hardly? Practice these words and more with two activities. Using a brief reading passage and a word bank, class members complete 11 sentences in writing and then practice...

Discuss race in the United States. Start by having each learner read a copy of Martin Luther King Jr's famous speech, "I Have a Dream." Then, have them read the article "Shared Prayers, Mixed Blessings" about a church in Atlanta,...